Is Tesla about to finally surrender to Apple CarPlay?

Tesla, 1 of the archetypal Apple CarPlay holdouts, whitethorn yet beryllium adjacent to really adopting the immensely fashionable telephone projection strategy for its cars, Bloomberg reports today. The institution has started investigating the capableness internally, anonymous sources archer the publication, and could beryllium adjacent to releasing it publicly, possibly successful a fewer months — oregon possibly not astatine all. Tesla has a past of toying with assorted features for months oregon adjacent years earlier yet deciding to termination them.

Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are typically 2 of the astir sought aft features for caller car shoppers. But contempt large protests from fans, Tesla has ne'er allowed telephone mirroring successful its cars, arguing that it tin supply a better, much integrated bundle acquisition than a smartphone — a presumption that is strangely increasing fashionable among immoderate bequest automakers, like GM.

Also, Elon Musk has a analyzable narration with Apple. He has criticized the company’s App Store policies, and was reportedly miffed erstwhile Apple poached twelve of Tesla engineers to unit its ain failed car project.

But times person changed, and successful the aftermath of the Great Elon Musk Backlash of 2025, Tesla is present successful a income slump and looking for ways to foodstuff demand. Bloomberg reports that adopting CarPlay, arsenic outlandish arsenic it seems, could beryllium portion of a broader strategy to get radical funny again successful Tesla’s cars.

Tesla’s mentation of CarPlay would, of course, beryllium taxable to the automaker’s ain allowances. The institution plans of featuring CarPlay successful a model wrong the larger interface, Bloomberg said, which means the projection would not afloat swap retired Tesla’s ain software. Tesla besides plans connected utilizing the modular mentation of CarPlay, and not Apple’s caller much immersive CarPlay Ultra that includes halfway functions similar the speedometer and clime functions.

Unsurprisingly, the lack of Apple CarPlay is often a dealbreaker for galore car shoppers. A 2023 survey revealed that astir fractional of caller car buyers globally wouldn’t bargain a car without CarPlay oregon Android Auto. The aforesaid survey said that 85 percent of radical preferred the phone-based strategy to their car’s built-in software.

It’s indicative of this strange, upside down clip successful which we unrecorded that a institution similar GM is actively plotting however to fortify its ain bundle to obviate the request for CarPlay, based mostly connected the occurrence of EV-only companies similar Tesla and Rivian that don’t let telephone projection — and meanwhile, 1 of those aforesaid EV-only companies is present contemplating its ain flip-flop connected CarPlay. Wild stuff!